Manual mode

[vladzdor]

Hello there,

Am trying out makemkv Beta 1.17.2

I don't see any way to select the Expert or Manual mode under Preferences -- which is mentioned in many topics of these forums.

Has it been removed?

If so, what was the latest version that had it and how can I get that version for Windows?

Thanks,
Vladimir.

[Woodstock]

Expert mode is a checkbox on the first page of preferences.

Manual mode is the second item of the File menu.

Are these invisible on your copy?

[dcoke22]

The expert mode checkbox is on the general tab in preferences.

expertmdoe.jpg (70.15 KiB) Viewed 2530 times

[vladzdor]

Thank you both!

That worked.

My confusion stemmed from the fact that this FAQ topic: https://makemkv.com/manualdvd/

refers to Manual mode but never mentions anything about Expert mode.
Nor does it mention that you must use the File menu to Open a DVD "manually"
Neither the word "Expert" nor the word "File" nor "Preferences" appears on the above webpage!

Some other forum topics and links do mention both Preferences and Expert mode in the context of manually opening a DVD, but the connection/relationship is not very clear.

So the uninitiated (like me), try to find some checkbox under Preferences called "Manual mode" but that doesn't exist. Alternately, when we hunt for Expert mode and switch it under Preferences, we expect something to happen right there on that screen, perhaps another tab labelled "Expert" should appear and within that we can open a DVD manually and enter the "title string".

Hence, it would be great if the FAQ topic itself were to be enhance to clear mention that, in order to open a DVD manually:

a) One must first visit Preferences and switch on Expert mode
b) That will expose a new option on the File menu to open a DVD manually

Further, since there is not really any Manual "mode" -- it is a command under File menu of Expert mode,
I would change the TITLE of the FAQ topic to "How to manually open a DVD" and remove ALL mention of the string "manual mode" within that FAQ topic or elsewhere, INCLUDING changing the File menu option to "Open manually"
or "Manual Open"

This might save some other poor souls the mystification I went through...

For extra points, the description of the syntax for the title string, both the informal text example and the more formal definition at the bottom, could also be improved by using DOS or Unix-style formatting and/or Regular Expressions as used by grep. I could help to do it if the software author(s) were able to spend time educating me and answering a few questions.

All that said, makemkv is awesome, please keep up the good work!

[Woodstock]

Expert mode simply enables a few things that some of us think should be turned on all the time. I'm not sure why they're turned off, by default, but that's something the author decided. I keep it on all the time, and sometimes forget it's there...

It isn't mentioned on the manualdvd page because it isn't needed to enable manual mode.

[vladzdor]

On my version of makemkv beta, the option to "Open DVD files manually" appears under the File menu ONLY if the Expert mode is switched ON.

It would have been less confusing, and easier to find or inquire about, if it appeared greyed out when Expert mode is OFF.

In any case, the Expert mode should very definitely be mentioned at https://makemkv.com/manualdvd/